EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager celebrated two major victories as the European Court of Justice upheld fines against Apple and Google.
The court ruled that Apple must pay €13 billion in back taxes to Ireland for receiving unlawful tax benefits, a decision seen as a win for tax justice.
Additionally, Google lost its appeal against a €2.42 billion fine for using its search engine to unfairly promote its shopping service, a move that stifled smaller competitors.
Apple expressed disappointment, arguing the EU was retroactively changing tax rules and that it had already paid taxes in the U.S. Google, which has faced €8.25 billion in fines over the last decade, voiced its frustration but noted it had already made changes in 2017 to comply with the ruling. Both rulings are final and cannot be appealed.
Vestager’s crackdown on Big Tech, especially in terms of tax arrangements and anti-competitive practices, has set a strong precedent. With her term ending in November, these rulings are likely to influence her successor’s approach to tackling similar issues in the future.